The charts below are direct quotes from Post-Vatican II Magisterial Documents
concerning the theme, Mary's Life, Elizabeth's Perspective. These teachings of the
Catholic Church may prove useful to include in talks, in homilies or for research. For the full title
and document data, click on the abbreviation code (for example, BYM leads you to the
document, Behold Your Mother). This will also lead you to the complete document on
this website or assist you in locating it elsewhere.

No one is excluded from the joy brought
by the Lord. The great joy announced by the angel on
Christmas night is truly for all the people, both for the people of Israel then anxiously awaiting a
Savior, and for the
numberless people made up of all those who, in time to come, would receive its message and
strive to live by it. The
blessed Virgin Mary was the first to have received its announcement, from the angel Gabriel,
and her Magnificat was already the exultant hymn of all the humble. #

"And why is this granted me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?" (Lk. 1:43)
Elizabeth bears witness to Mary: she recognizes and proclaims that before her stands the Mother
of the Lord, the Mother of the Messiah. The son whom Elizabeth is carrying in her womb also
shares in this witness: "The babe in my womb leaped for joy." (Lk. 1:44) 12

While every word of Elizabeth's greeting is filled with meaning, her final words would
seem to have fundamental importance: "And blessed is she who believed that there would be a
fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord." (Lk. 1:45) (28) These words can be linked
with the title "full of grace" of the angel's greeting. 12

Elizabeth first called Mary "blessed" because of "the fruit of her womb," and then she called
her "blessed" because of her faith. (cf. Lk. 1:42, 45) 35 [See also 37]

The Rosary is one of the traditional paths of Christian prayer directed to the contemplation
of Christ's face. Pope Paul VI described it in these words: "As a Gospel prayer, centered on the
mystery of the redemptive Incarnation, the Rosary is a prayer with a clearly Christological
orientation. Its most characteristic element, in fact, the litany-like succession of Hail
Mary's,
becomes in itself an unceasing praise of Christ, who is the ultimate object both of the Angel's
announcement and of the greeting of the Mother of John the Baptist: 'Blessed is the fruit of your
womb'. (Lk 1:42) 18

Exultation is the keynote of the encounter with Elizabeth, where the sound of Mary's voice
and the presence of Christ in her womb cause John to "leap for joy." (cf. Lk 1:44). 20

By making our own the words of the Angel Gabriel and Saint Elizabeth contained in the
Hail Mary, we find ourselves constantly drawn to seek out afresh in Mary, in her arms and in her
heart, the "blessed fruit of her womb." (cf. Lk 1:42) 24

Yet when the Hail Mary is properly understood, we come to see clearly that its Marian
character is not opposed to its Christological character, but that it actually emphasizes and
increases it. The first part of the Hail Mary, drawn from the words spoken to Mary by the Angel
Gabriel and by Saint Elizabeth, is a contemplation in adoration of the mystery accomplished in
the Virgin of Nazareth. 33

"Blessed is she who believed." (Lk 1:45)
Mary also anticipated, in the mystery of the incarnation, the Church's Eucharistic faith. When, at
the Visitation, she bore in her womb the Word made flesh, she became in some way a
"tabernacle" the first "tabernacle" in history in which the Son of God, still invisible to our
human gaze, allowed himself to be adored by Elizabeth, radiating his light as it were through the
eyes and the voice of Mary. 55

This page, maintained by The Marian Library/International Marian Research Institute,
Dayton, Ohio 45469-1390, and created by
Sr.Jean M. Frisk
, was last modified
Tuesday, 08/17/2010 16:06:32 EDT
by
Ramya Jairam
. Please send any comments to jroten1@udayton.edu.